Amenities

Bored in marea

from CDN_ROCKER

This place is a retirement home , being a teenager I was bored out of my mind , the entertainment was horrid and the only good thing about this place was the beach!..don't go here if you want even minimal action!..this place is dead!

Loved Marea

from anonymous

I have been to Marea a few times, both alone and with friends. I love it there. It is a great safe place to travel alone. If you're looking for a reasonably-priced, simple, basic resort with friendly staff and decent food, then this is the place to go. If you want gourmet and 24/7 entertainment - pay a lot more money and go somewhere else. The beach and pool are clean, the rooms are clean, the staff are friendly and helpful, there is plenty of good food, the entertainment is average and the scenery spectacular. What more can one ask for when on a VACATION!

Returning home

from anonymous

My family and I have been going to Club Amigo Marea del Portillo/Farallon del Caribe for the past 10 years. The first time was as virgin travellers looking to escape a cold Canadian winter. We were booked into unknow territory, a litlle leary of entring a country not run as our own, but let me tell you... from the moment we left the plane to our very last moment in Cuba we were treated like FAMILY.

Arriving at the hotel is a big thing, everyone that is employed at the hotel and guests at the time are at the front of the hotel to great you with warm smiles song and drink. Now that is a welcome fit for a king.

We have stayed in both hotels, in a cabana and hotel rooms with never a problem. The rooms are clean and spacious. The food is good with variety to suit just about everyone's tastes. The entertainment staff during the day are great, always trying to please. If you wish to participate in the daily activities they are there for you to do so.

Evening entertainment reflects the culture of the people, and as a guest you may just find yourself in a starring role. Which I highly recommend! There are of course many wonderful day trips available if you wish, form shopping in Santiago to horseback riding in the montains, fishing expeditions and sunning on the island owned by the hotel. A must do is to travel into any of the small towns surrounding the hotels. Pilon, for example gives you the true authenticity of the Cuban people and their way of life. Everyone there is so friendly and willing to show you their town and what it has to offer. There really is no other place that I wish to travel to now that Marea is under my skin. We will be returning again this year at our usual time to see all the wonderful friends and family we have aquired over the past ten years. We are returning HOME to be with our Cuban Family.

Perfect getaway

from anonymous

We went to Marea Del Portillo last year (2002) and are going back again this November (2003). Sufice it to say, the resort was excellent. I'll break it down for you.

Rooms. Very clean and spacious. Mind you, we had one of the beachside cabanas, which are a little larger than the hotel rooms, but everyone we talked to liked the rooms....Thank god for the great air conditioner too. TV and mini fridge in each room. Rooms were cleaned every day and were always spotless.

Staff. From the moment we arrived, till the moment we departed, we were always greeted with smiling faces and genuine warmth. The staff go over the top to make you comfortable and feel welcome. Of all the staff, make sure you find Alex and Gilberto. Alex is the entertainment manager, and Gilberto is one of the dancers...both great guys and very friendly. Oh, and the bartenders at the pol bar are the best....they usually had our drinks ready for us before we got to the bar (giving them a little tip here and there helps ;-)

Food. We were never hungry...food was excellent and plentifull. Make sure you get omlets for breakfast as they were extremely good. And don't miss out on the cuban coffee.

Day Trips. Rent the mopeds for a couple of hours. We toured the countryside and just loved it. Friendly waving people wherever you went. Breathtaking scenery. Lots of picture oportunities. I heard people raving about the day trip to the island of Cayo Blanco, although we didn't go last time, we will surely make it this time.

Scuba Diving. Wonderfull. Plenty of dive sites. I only did the 3rd and 4th dives of my life while there, but was amazed by the variety of sea life and coral I saw. The dive master and his other divers were great and very helpfull.

Nightlife. On the resort, they have shows and bands every night.

Nothing too extravagant, but a nice way to spend an evening under the stars with a drink in your hand. Don't be surprised if you end up being in one of the shows. Also, make sure to take a trip into the town of Pilon to soak up the local night life. We had a wonderful time, and will spend several evenings there this time.

So, to sum it up, we had an excellent time, and will be going back again and again. Don't miss out on this little treasure.

I LOVE Marea del Portillo & the Farallon

from anonymous

marea and the farallon are the best resorts I have been to. I have spent time in Negril Jamaica,at twice the cost and much more enjoyed the Marea. The staff are very friendly and the atmosphere is laid back but you can be as busy as you like. There's lots to do,and the town of marea and Pilon are huge eye openers, safe, fun, cheap. The locals love the tourists and are very helpful in any situation. The food is not the best but I brought my own peanut butter and the meals I had off of the resort were wonderful. I highly recommend the fishing tour which is only $35.00 U.S where as in Jamaica it was $160.00 (same ocean?). I will go back many more times I have already been there 8 times and made some very good friends. Highly recommend this part of the island.

Relaxing, Warm, Amazing People

from anonymous

My husband and I travelled to this resort for two weeks in January 2003. We both had a great time. The food was good (nothing fancy) and the people were amazing. We weren't really interested in the night life because we spent the day in the sun and were tired. I heard it wasn't amazing... but as I said we were in bed by 10:00pm. We met several locals and rode by horseback into two villages. Spent the afternoon exchanging stories about Cuba and Canada. The people are very poor - we brought medical supplies, clothing, school supplies. The scuba diving was good with 25+ dive sites (around $30.00US/dive). There is a hair salon (they do great braiding), gift shop, and daily activities. The island Cayo Blanco is incredible - for $4.50US you go on a 45 minute ocean boat ride to a secluded island. Includes lunch and all drinks. There are several wrecks accessible from the shore for snorkelling. All in all, we made seven trips to the island. The price per week was $499.00 Cdn - Can't get much cheaper than that. If you want to just relax, horseback ride, scuba dive this is the perfect resort. If you are a party animal, I would NOT recommended this resort.As an aside, Manzanillo area is the driest, warmest area in Cuba. We were there for two weeks and had only one cloudy day. The temperature was 80 degrees plus everyday. Some areas in Cuba that week were in the low 50's along with Florida.

Cant wait to go back

from anonymous

not a place to go if you like night life and casenos, but to spend a good relaxing enjoyable holliday it cant be beat. The food is plain and not fancy,the same as it is all over cuba, its good and theres plenty of it. The peole and staff are polite, and couldnt do enough for you. All the people you will meat on the beach in the town and on the roads, are the safest, friendlyest you could meat any in the world They all feel like family. We met people there that had been there 20 to 30 times before. It was our second time and we plan to go back every chance we get.

Disliked the marea

from anonymous

Vacationing here was like spending a week at a retirement lodge. The Marea and the Farallon really cater to the old retirees that are repeat guests. Food was the worst that i had seen in my 6 previous times to Cuba. But the hotel staff is great and the nearby village of Pilon is very safe. The moped one night would not start and a village person took care of me and the moped. He made sure the moped was safe at the police station and arranged for a local to give me a ride back to the hotel. Other places in the Carribbean would have mugged you for sure. This is why i love Cuba!!!....On a sad note, the village person who helped me, her sister worked at the hotel and was fired because i gave her some leftover bare essentials...tootpaste, soap, shampoo, shave cream....they frown upon cuban women talking to men...yet cuban men can talk to tourist women!...the management have truly insulted me at that hotel for this matter!!!

Manzillo is perfect spot for relaxation but no night life

from anonymous

My partner and I rec'd a 7 day trip to the Farrallon Del Caribe resort in Manzanillo (it's actually in Marea del Portillo but the tour operators like to say it's in Manzillo). The resort itself is nice - very clean, great staff; in fact they will bend over backwards for you, all you have to do is ask. You can mingle with the guest in it's sister hotel theMarea Del Portillo. Unfortunately there is not much else to do here aside from the usual excursions you pay extra for. You are surrounded by beautiful, absolutely breath taking scenery, mountains, water. It's a great place to just relax in but if you are looking for night life, Veradero is the place to be. P.S. the two resorts I mentioned above are suitable for older people who seem to enjoy all the relaxation. I've met couples there who have been there every year for the past seven years and they stay about one to two months at a time.

Cuban Shangri-La

from anonymous

A very quiet, restful place to explore. We felt completely safe walking on the beach, local roads, moped biking, or riding a horse in the mountains.

(Highly recommend the horse back trip)

Rooms very clean and efficient personnel.

Plenty of food served warm and friendly, but not many extravagances, very tasty, but not fancy.

No shortage of drinks in all inclusive, as advertised.

For a couple in their 50's this vacation was very relaxing. Short on night life, casinos and stores in immediate vacinity.

You couldn't ask for any better sunrise, sunsets scenery and friendly staff. Good for young families also. Most people we met were repeat customers,some up to ten times.

Travel Blogs from Pilon

... good. I have no idea how you would survive in Cuba if you can't sing, dance or play an instrument. And I thought this was wear my dancing for the day would end, not so. Out for drinks and dinner on the rooftop terrace of the beautiful old colonial style Hotel Casagranda. Five stories up you get a great view it the city and the Parque Cespedes. Over dinner the sound of music broke out, a full on orchestra had set up in the main square playing a blend of cuban and classical music. It ...

... it looked like the lid of the salt container fell off while the cook was seasoning her dish.)

Holguin is little more than a big city, on the verge of replacing CamagŁey as the third largest Cuban city. But the bus to Ciego left early in the morning, so we had no choice but to stay here for one night ...

I ran out of my bottled water, so David and Glenda and I walked several blocks to the first store. They had bottled water on the floor but they wouldn't let us buy any as they were still taking inventory. So we wandered off to the next store and experienced success-they not only had water but were interested in selling it-bonus! We bought an 8L flat, which although it was cheaper to buy that much, it was also heavier. Between the ...

A pivotal day. This morning while I was waiting for Sandra to make lunch, I wandered into the living room and was drawn to the beauty of the backyard, behind the iron bars near the dining room. It was so green, the sky so blue, it looked so inviting. I could almost hear the serpent whispering, “Come on out here, the dog is in the storage shed, you can sit in the sun and look at the beauty.” So I ...

Tuesday April 14 –My rental owner knocked on my door at 6 am, as pre arranged (thanks to G’s translating). But the breadman had already wakened me. I’d woken to the sound of a whistle, similar to the ones we used to playing cops and robbers with as a kid. Followed by the shrill voice repeating, “panyooooooo, panyoooo!” I did not realize what ...